Georgia

{WARNING: A lot of this post is about the miscarriage}

Learning that I was going to miscarry the week before my sister's wedding made me wonder if I should even try to make the trip. I really wanted to go and she had asked me to take her wedding pictures, so I just prayed everything would work out okay and I went anyway. I started bleeding lightly on Wednesday and I didn't worry too much about it. Thursday I flew to Atlanta with my sister, Adrienne, and her 4 kids and my dad. Hayden did SO good on the plane! Friday we went to the church to help set up for the reception. Not much happened, light cramps and light bleeding. Saturday I prayed and prayed that I could make it through the day and be okay.

We headed to the temple at 10 and got there at 11 so my mom could help Jessica. The rest of us waited the the annex behind the temple until 11:30. My brother and his friend watched all our kids while we went in for the sealing. After the sealing we grabbed everyone and the camera and tripod and when Jessica and Justin came out we did pictures. Then I did the bride and groom pictures. After that we went to PF Changs for lunch. We headed back to the church and finished last minute things and put out food, etc. The reception was so pretty and a lot of fun! My best friend from my senior year in Alabama was able to come too so that made it even more fun! She helped me a lot with Hayden and I'm so grateful! Everything went super well the entire day. Even the rain waited until we the reception started before coming :) It was such a perfect day! I'm so happy for my sister!! She looked beautiful and she found herself a good man! (sorry there aren't any pictures, I want to edit first)

After the reception was over we did clean up and that's when everything started going downhill. I felt stronger cramps and had to sit down a few times. Right before we left the church to head home I put one of Hayden's diapers in my underwear. (its about a 45 minute drive from the church to my mom's house.) The drive home was awful! I had cramps that were more like contractions when you're dilated to 5 cm (and maybe I was). I was leaned on the seat in front of me breathing through them. When we got home I got up and felt a huge gush come out so I raced to the bathroom. I jumped in the shower and stayed there until the hot water ran out. Then I turned it off and just sat on the tub floor for probably an hour and a half. After a while I decided the bleeding had calmed down enough to get out. I grabbed another diaper and went to bed.

I was able to get a good nights sleep and woke up feeling a lot better. I jumped back in the shower. After I was dressed I went downstairs. I felt a sharp pain in my side, but it felt more like bowel pains than uterus pains. After about 10 minutes it was getting worse. I went and sat down and I couldn't do anything but sit there bundled up in pain. The pain got so bad that I was in tears! I imagine it was equal to being 10 cm dilated (not that I've felt that before). I'm so glad I was staying with my mom. My step dad is a doctor so he came to my rescue. He had this thing called a TENS unit. Its got 4 sticky pads that you put in certain spots on your body and it sends little electrical pulses through you. So my step dad put them around my uterus area and I turned it on to where I was comfortable. He also got me a heat pad. The combination of the two of them took my pain completely away. After a few hours I turned the TENS unit off to see if my contractions were less painful. They started coming back so I turned it back on before they got worse. I used that with the heat until the evening. I turned the TENS unit off around 5 or 6 and just used the heat on medium and felt a lot better. I had my brother and my brother in law give me a blessing, which I think helped the most! I got my things packed that night and woke up with mild cramping Monday morning. My mom took me to my dad and sister's hotel at 7 am and we loaded up and headed to the airport. Adrienne's kids all ended up getting that nasty stomach bug that we all got a few weeks ago, so sadly she wasn't able to go to any of the wedding stuff on Saturday. Luckily she got some nausea pills because 2 of her girls woke up feeling nasty Monday morning. After the pills, the were fine and did great on the flight home. Hayden did great again too and even slept the last 2 hours of the flight and didn't wake up until we touched down and applied the brakes! I was glad because you run out of things to do in such a small space on an airplane. After we got off I went and found Paul and we met his parents for lunch at In N out. I was glad to see them. It is sooooo good to be home and to see Paul again. It was a fun weekend but we missed him SO much!

I think everything worked out perfectly considering the circumstances. The fact that Paul didn't come so I was with my mom and step dad when everything happened. The fact that everything happened AFTER the reception and AFTER I was done taking pictures. The fact that I wasn't on a plane when it did happen. I do wish that Paul had been with me, but since he wasn't able to be there, I'm glad I was with people who could take care of me, and take care of Hayden when I needed that help. I'm so grateful I had priesthood holders near me to give me a blessing when I was in need. I know the Lord was watching over me this weekend.

Now to get rid of this headache I've had ALL weekend that I just can't shake.

Blighted Ovum

Blighted ovum (or anembryonic gestation) is a common cause of miscarriage. It happens when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus but the resulting embryo either stops developing very early or doesn't form at all.

This is what a 10 week sonogram should look like:

Source

This is what my 10 week sonogram looked like:

Source

In January I had spotting with sharp cramping. After calling the doctor they said not to worry unless heavy bleeding occurs. Nothing else happened until Friday. I went in for my 10 week pregnancy check up and pap smear. Dr. Jones brought in a cheap sonogram machine to take a peek at the baby. I got my phone out all excited so I could take a picture and send it to Paul. After a few minutes looking around she called in Dr. Gurrero who is better at looking at sonograms. Neither of them could find the embryo. After the pelvic exam she ordered an official sonogram and blood test to check my hCG levels. After a quick call over to building B they sent me over right away. My bladder had to be full so I drank a ton of water and had to sit for an hour while it made its way to the bladder. I had to pee when I walked in the place... so you can imagine how bad I had to go while they did the sonogram! While I waited I had my blood drawn. After an hour I decided to tell the ladies I couldn't hold it anymore and they called me back. They did one sonogram on my abdomen and one with a probe inserted in the vagina (after I emptied my bladder thankfully). At 7 pm Dr. Jones called me and said that my hCG levels were pretty high (meaning there's a chance I could just be earlier in the pregnancy that we thought) but the sonograms showed an empty sack.

Tuesday I went in for more blood work (my arm is sore and bruised!) and this morning I called to get the results. My hCG levels were at 33 thousand when they originally took my blood. This test showed them at 18 thousand, confirming my worst fears. Miscarriage.

We have to wait a few months until we can start trying again. But try we will! :)

Guess what!?!?!

Even though I'm pretty sure that everyone that reads this already knows, but...

baby number 2 is on the way!

My due date is September 9th. We are really excited!!!